People eager to receive the COVID-19 vaccine are urging officials for a standby list before doses are wasted

As more doses of the COVID-19 vaccine become available in the U.S., putting them all to use has become increasingly challenging as some eligible recipients have missed their appointments.

Once a dose is thawed out for use, it has a short shelf life and because of federal guidelines, “hospitals and other health care providers would rather risk a dose going bad than give it to somebody who isn’t scheduled to get a shot,” NBC News reports.

Across the country, those eager to be vaccinated are urging for standby lists in order to avoid wasting any more doses.

In Maricopa County, a local Arizona State University graduate, Sukhmani Singh, launched novaccineswasted.com as a part of a campaign lobbying the Department of Public Health to create a COVID-19 vaccine standby list.

According to Fox, the website achieved nearly 400 sign-ups within 48 hours; however, the standby list hasn’t been implemented.

“It just seems silly that there’s not one in place...it seems dangerous,” Singh told Fox. “So there needs to be some kind of system in place to quickly call somebody, get down here, get this vaccine.”

On Tuesday, the Maricopa County Department of Public Health offered the following statement regarding unused doses, writing “no usable dose of COVID-19 vaccine is being wasted” and that “any large vaccination administration site that claims that ‘no doses are wasted’ is not operating safely.”

Do you think implementing a standby list is necessary despite states’ vaccine administration plan? Share your thoughts in the comments.